NC State falls to Seton Hall 94-83 in opening round of NCAA Tournament

NC State’s draw of Seton Hall was never ideal.

The Pirates were bigger, stronger, and more experienced than the Wolfpack and they used that all to their advantage.

If the Wolfpack was going to win, they would need to get the pace of the game up and to match the physicality of Seton Hall. They weren’t able to do either.

The refs called an extremely tight game that really hampered the flow and pace of the game, while NC State simply did not answer the bell physically. Angel Delgado beasted Omer Yurtseven all night, dropping 13 points and bringing in 9 boars, while Yurt finished with 2 points and 2 boards in 14 minutes (due to foul trouble). Desi Rodriguez got too many spot-up look from 3 and finished with 20 points while Khadeen Carrington stayed white-hot, going for 26.

NC State just didn’t have the horses and didn’t play well enough to make up for it. Al Freeman did literally everything he could finishing 12-19 from the floor and 5-8 from 3 point range on his way to 36 points. Torin Dorn also showed up under the bright lights an had a somewhat quiet 18 and 12. Lennard Freeman filled in for Omer Yurtseven well and ended his career with a nice 13 point, 6 rebound performance.

The loss is tough to take, but no matter how you look at it, this season was a success. They marked the Pack for dead in the preseason and Kevin Keatts had them tied for 3rd in the ACC and with an NCAA berth.

Tip of the cap to the seniors who stuck around with the new staff and poured their heart into this season. And to the Pack fans, chin up. This is the beginning, not the end.